1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display unit and, more particularly, to an arrangement and connection of IC chips that define a drive circuit for the display unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, pocket-size computers and portable computers have been developed. Such a computer often has a liquid crystal display unit which is defined by a liquid crystal multi-dot display element and a drive circuit for driving the display element. The liquid crystal multi-dot display element generally has a plurality of dots aligned in a matrix format, enabling the display of various characters and symbols through on/off control of the dots. The drive circuit for such a display is formed by a plurality of IC chips, such as LSI chips. The liquid crystal multi-dot display element therefore requires numerous terminals, in the order of hundreds, which are aligned along the side of the element with a predetermined narrow pitch. The drive circuit also has a corresponding number of terminals which are electrically connected to the display element terminals.
According to the prior art, the LSI chips are mounted on a circuit board made of a non-flexible hard material and, therefore, it is necessary to provide a relatively large space for installing the circuit board at a position neighboring the multi-dot display element. This results in a bulky liquid crystal display unit.
Furthermore, according to the prior art, the circuit board is provided with numerous terminals aligned with a predetermined pitch, so that when the circuit board is placed at its position adjacent the multi-dot display element, the terminals on the circuit board can be electrically connected to the corresponding terminals on the display element. However, since the terminals on the circuit board and display element are aligned within a narrow space, the positioning of the circuit board is very difficult. If the circuit board moves a little, the terminals on the circuit board may not be connected to the proper terminals on the display element.
Moreover, according to the prior art, the terminals on the circuit board and those on the display element must be formed with high accuracy. Otherwise, some terminals may fail to connect with the corresponding terminals, even if the circuit board is positioned properly.